Corn-planter



(No Model.)

a. 'W.BROWN.

GORN'PLANTER.

Patented May 29,1883.

j UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE wmeown, or GALESBURG, ILLINOIS.

CORN-PLANTER.

QPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 278,498, dated May 29, 1883. Application filed September 16, 1880. No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

nois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corn-Planters; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan of a corn-planter embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation in line 00 m in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan of the spring and adjacent parts. I 1

This invention relates to corn-planters of that class in which a frame provided with seeding devices and furrow-openers at its front end is jonrnaled on wheels at or near its rear end, where it is also hinged to the tongue, so that its front end maybe raised and lowered to raise and lower the runners, and the depth to which the runners enter the soil is adjusted by means of devices interposed between the forward end of the swinging frame and the tongue; andmy invention consists in a spring interposed between the tongue and swinging frame, and adapted to exert a downward force on said frame to force the runners intothe ground, and which will yield to allow thefor-- ward end of the frame to rise and the runners to pass over obstacles which they cannot cut I through.

, The invention further consistsin a spring connected with the tongue and forward part of the swinging frame in such manner. that it will not offer increased resistance as the for-' ward end of said frame is elevated, and will,

instead thereof, offer diminishing resistance as it is raised, and vice versa.

Referring to-the drawings by letters, A represents a frame supported at its rearend on I devices located therein.

F is a tongue or draft-pole hinged to the frame A at a, or at any. point near the rear end of the frame A.

7 G G are bars extending upward from the front endof frame A, and connected at their upper ends by a bar, 9, through which a setscrew, 9, passes. The ton gueF passes through between the bars Gr.

H. is a drivers seat supported on a bar, It, whichtprojects from the tongueF,

, I is a lever pivoted to the tongue at 'i, its lower end resting between alug, t", on a bar, G, and one of the frame-bars of frame A, and its upper end adjacent to the drivers seat.

J is a seat on the tongue for the dropman. The setscrew 9 may be adjusted to fix the extent to which the front end of frame A may be lowered with reference to the tongue for adjusting the depth of planting, and the lever I may be used in the ordinary mannerto raise and lower the front end of the frame A.

The foregoing constitute the parts of an ordinary planter of the class to: which my improvements relate, and such planter may be constructed differently from that I have shown and described herein; but in all of them the frame carrying the seeding devices is hinged to the tongue, to that the part of said frame which is forward of such hinge and carries the seeding devices may be raised andlowered.

K is a U-shaped bar or link, pivoted or hinged at its open" end to a plate, Ill, on the tongue F, and its other end provided with a lug, 70, having a hole, k.

M is an elongated staple-shaped guide-bar secured to the frame A, and passes through the hole It in the log 70, so as to form a sliding connection between the frame A and links or bars K. Thelinks K are longer than the distance between the frame A and the tongue when the frame A is at its lowest working position with relation to the tongue, and hence I oscillate with the oscillations of the frame A.

N is a spiral spring located between the limbs of the U-shaped link K, its lower end attached to the lower part or end of said link K and its upper end attached to the plate L in rear of the fulcrum of the link K, and preferably at a pointlowerthan said fulcrum. The tension of the spring N" is adjusted to press outward in the direction of its length.. When the forward end of the frame A is in its elevated position, as shown" by dotted lines at ,Ico

Fig. 2, the spring will exert its forcenearly endl0ng on the link. K, and hence exert, when in same position, little or no force downward on the frame A; but as the frame Ais lowered the angle between the spring and link K increases, and the force of the springon the frame A increases proportionally, so that the more the frame is lowered toward its lowest working position the greater downwardly-acting force the spring will exert upon it, and Vice versa. It will be seen that the spring may be connected with the lever I to operate on the frame Awith same results as hereinbe fore described.

Springs of various kinds and capable of different functions havebeen used in cultivators, hay-rakes, markers, harrows, and other agricultural implements, and I do not make any claim herein to their use in other than cornplanters ot' the particular class herein described.

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a corn-planter, the combination of the frame provided with seeding devices and furrow-openers at its front end, and journaled on wheels at or near its rear end, where it is also hinged to the tongue, and a lever by which the swinging frame may be raised or lowered,

with a spring adapted to'force the runners in the ground when said lever is free to permit it, substantially as and for the purpose'specified.

2. In a corn-planter of the class herein de scribed, in combination with the tongue and swinging frame, a spring connected with and arranged in an oblique position relatively to the swinging frame and tongue, whereby it may press downward on the swinging runnerframe and offer diminished resistance to the elevation of said runner-frame, as'it is more elevated.

In testimony whereofl affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. BROWN. 

